The blog will offer purely objective and candid analyses for a better understanding of the events that keep happening and that provide dynamism and direction to the flow of the history and development of the human societies. Being a forum, the comments and opinions from readers whether for or against the views expressed in it, are gratefully welcome. Suggestions for improving the blog are welcome.

Monday, February 24, 2014

The chips are down. The fighter
jets of Pakistan Air Force have finally pounded a few hideouts of the murderous
Taliban who have been wantonly killing the innocent civilians and military
personnel alike. That action came in retaliation to the slaughter or slaying of
23 captured Frontier constabulary soldiers by Taliban.

It is good that finally a
reluctant Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had to swallow this bitter pill and order
such indispensable and overdue action. His move to strike a deal with the
unyielding and unpredictable Taliban was indeed well-intentioned and an earnest
effort to attain peace through dialogue and quid pro quo.

However, the dialogue takes
places and produces expected outcome when both the interlocutors are on the
same page and genuinely interested to come to amicable terms. Perhaps Taliban
underestimated or purposely or even disdainfully disregarded or misconstrued
the government’s offer of olive branch to end the bloodshed.

The military action has
been delayed certainly but it is yet not too late. The PMLN regime has
earned a dividend of choosing the peaceful course first and thus it stands
exonerated from the blame or stigma that it opted for use of force without
first resorting to the peaceful overtures and amicable endeavors.

It should be expected that
the military onslaught would not be halted and punctured halfway without
rooting out the menace and scourge of militants destabilizing Pakistan with
their orgy of blood and incessant terrorism. The Taliban militants have been
attacking the military complexes and headquarters with impunity inflicting
heavy losses both human casualties and serious blows to military equipment
including blowing up military air-crafts.

If the strikes and anti
Taliban offensive continues unabated for quite some time, one can forebode the
crippling and elimination of this furious pedigree of religious fighters who by
their savage militancy are serving neither Islam nor the people at large.

Their strategy is to drive
fear and terrorize the people to blindly and docilely accept their version of
an Islamic regime which means the country should be renamed as Islamic emirate,
chief boss of the country should be called Amirul-Momineen (the leader of the
faithful) and his second in command should be titled caliph.

Now this concept of
statehood flies in the face of a modern, democratic and nation state. The kind
of state or caliphate that this ignorant lot of renegades wants to impose on
Pakistan and even Afghanistan cannot find its parallel or model even during
medieval and early eras of Islamic dynasties. From Omayyad to Ottoman Empire
all were secular and family kingdoms or authoritarian reigns.

Even in preset times of
democracy and enlightenment, Saudi Arabia is called the “Kingdom of Saudi
Arabia”. Saudi Arabia is the abode of Islam, and yet negates the Islamic rule
of choosing the head of the government by popular vote. In sheer violation of
the Islamic canon or practice of Khilafat-e-Rashida it is not a caliphate but a
kingdom ruled by Saud family and is named after the ruling family.

The other states and
emirates in the Middle East or Arab peninsula too are the family fiefdoms and thus
have nothing to do with such lofty concepts that” power belongs to the people”
as well as, equality, justice and fundamental rights.

A modern secular state
offers most conducive conditions and congenial environment for religious
freedom and fear-free practice of one’s religion. A rigid dogmatic, ruthlessly
orthodox, bigoted and sectarian state leads to the suffocation and stifling of
religious pluralism and diversity of faiths.

An isolated island of
merciless, intolerant and narrow minded regime as the Taliban want to establish
never existed, nor can it function. Such a regime cannot be compatible with the
norms of independence, fusion of cultures and integration that is pervading the
globe.

So the elements and forces
within Pakistan that harbor some kind of sympathy and support for these queer
and freak guys and later day Islamic warrior should rethink their outlook. The
Taliban are the product of the last two or three decades.

Jamaat Islami for one is
condemning the military action vehemently by accusing the army of killing
innocent people which means Taliban. They supported such an action in East
Pakistan over four decades ago. If Taliban are innocent then all
devils and killers should also be treated as sinless.

Jamaat-e-Islami
opposed the creation of Pakistan and now is busy in dismantling it. They are
wholly or partly responsible for separation of former East Pakistan. Ironically
they are sympathizing with a band of thugs and heartless bounty hunters and
accusing Pakistan army for an overdue and belated action.

Such crony
religio-political outfits such as JUI are lashing out at the army and
denouncing the army operation. This is also one of the political parties that
opposed the creation of Pakistan. They have been pulling every trick in their
kitty to weaken Pakistan and at the same time blackmailing every government and
making hay while the sun shines. Their leaders always speak with their tongues
in cheek and grudgingly support any plan that leads to a better Pakistan.

Neither the incumbent
government nor the armed forces should relent in their indispensable blitz
against these monsters called by default as Taliban. The use of brutal force
surgical or targeted is the only option to debilitate the infrastructure of
Taliban. This option should remain open and used whenever there is a blast o
terrorist attack by these enemies of Pakistan.

If the Taliban
attack anywhere in Pakistan the armed forces should retaliate with full might.
Their presence and continuation among the civil society and damaging Pakistan’s
economy its infrastructure and social peace is like a proverbial “Damocles
Sword” and constant threat to the solidarity, integrity and progress of
Pakistan. It is overdue to break that sword. It’s time to nip this
evil.

Monday, February 10, 2014

The incumbent
PMLN regime in Pakistan is striving hard to normalize relations with
neighboring India. It is bending over heavily backward and ready to go extra
mile for a new beginning of peaceful and mutually beneficial relationship with
the big neighbor.

But such an earnest ambition and thrust may not fructify
because India would never be ready to part an inch of Kashmir to Pakistan or to
Kashmiris. It is another matter if both agree to declare the line of control as
the permanent border.

Prime
Minister Mian Nawaz Sharif’s outlook and perception about friction-free
relations between India and Pakistan is laudable and promising for the
stability and progress of both the countries. During his earlier two stints as
the Pakistan’s prime minister he has addressed this prime issue very
diligently. As a result of that the then Indian prime minister Atal Bihari
Vajpayee made an historic visit to Pakistan in February 1999 to inaugurate the
Delhi-Lahore bus service.

The Lahore Declaration
signed by Nawaz Sharif and Mr. Vajpayee enshrined among others, such momentous
clauses as initiation of process for permanent settlement of Kashmir dispute,
expansion of trade relations and denuclearizing South Asia.

Unfortunately the
Kargil conflict watered down that milestone accord as military under Musharraf
did not want a rapprochement with India. Furthermore, Mian Nawaz Sharif was deposed
on October 12, 1999 in a military take -over throwing up the then COAS Pervez Musharraf as the head of
state.

The
bitterness and the malaise of strained relationship are spawned by the
hardliners and fanatics of all sorts on both the sides, most notably the
religious outfits. As such in a festering animus loaded environment, it is
difficult to presage if Pakistan and India can forget their strife ridden past
and embark upon a path of abiding friendship.

Unfortunately,
India and Pakistan thus far have failed to sort out their mutual disputes for
lasting peace and good neighborliness. There is no precedent in the past that
they worked out a bilaterally acceptable solution or agreement with regard to
such thorny issues as the demarcation of borders, mutual trade, the
apportionment of water from rivers flowing down into Pakistan or the paramount lingering
Kashmir issue. The Indus Basic Treaty was breached by India being the upper riparian.

There is no record of accomplishments for the two neighbors liberated from the
British colonial yoke in 1947 of sitting down and coming up with a recipe of
veritable peace and friendship. India will not give up her hold on Kashmir, nor
will Pakistan or Kashmiri nation relinquish or forego their claim about holding
a pledged plebiscite to elicit the local population’s opinion as to which
country they would prefer to join.

Indian deems Kashmir as an integral part of
Indian federation while Pakistan’s standpoint is that Kashmir is a disputed
territory whose final status has yet to be determined by the people of Kashmir
though a plebiscite.

The three wars, in 1948, 1965, and 1971 followed by brief skirmishes in Kargil
in July 1999 have failed to bring about change of hearts on both the sides. The
fact is that primarily it is Pakistan that would be the major beneficiary of
the illusive settlement of the outstanding issues between India and Pakistan.

For that matter, India would not let Pakistan off the hook lest it can move
forward on a course of stability, progress, and prosperity. By
facilitating cross border trade Pakistan would earn 12 billion dollars per
annum.

India’s military intervention in Bangladesh in 1971 led to the dismemberment of
Pakistan and a humiliating defeat for the Pakistan’s armed forces. The Simla
Agreement signed in 1972 between India and Pakistan, binds both the countries
to settle all contentious issues via parleys to be conducted in the framework
of the UN Charter.
Now building of 22 barrages by India on rivers emanating from Kashmir apart
from being a violation of the 1960 Indus Water Treaty, would give a complete
control to India to stop or release water to Pakistan, which is a lower
riparian. India agreed to sign Indus Basin Treaty because it deprived Pakistan
of three rivers. Otherwise, she would have never agreed if such a treaty had
impinged upon her interests.

There can never be a consensus agreement on water distribution and a workable
arrangement for water share to Pakistan because India would never do anything
that would even marginally benefit Pakistan. Indus Basin Treaty or no treaty,
Pakistan agricultural sector would always remain at the mercy of India for
release of water that she would do after taking care of her domestic needs.

If
Pakistan doesn't get enough water, it would be exposed always to a looming
threat of drought and famine. Tacitly India’s preference has been to turn
Pakistan into a market for disposal of her products both industrial and
agricultural.

Both the
countries have not been able to smoothen and ease flow of cross border travel
because of stringent visa rules that bar the travelers from either country to
go beyond the cities specified in the passport. The intelligence operatives
chase and keep a strict watch on the visitors until they depart. There have
been many instances when a visitor was apprehended on mere suspicion and languished
in Indian jails for years.

Besides,
since the inception of both the states in 1947, Pakistan has remained under
unrelenting diplomatic, military, economic, and psychological pressure from
India. So the talk of CBMS (confidence building measures) is a mere ploy to
obfuscate the real issues. Both countries have varying and different
interpretation for CBMS.

For Pakistan, primarily it is the easy movement of
citizens of both the states without much of harassment and strict conditions.
For India, it is to allow India to export her goods to Pakistani without any
let or hindrance. While Pakistan has ever remained ready to talk on substantive
issues India’s priorities and prerogatives have been focused on pushing them to
back burners or keeping in a state of limbo.

Good neighborly relations between Pakistan and India have remained elusive because
there is no overwhelming goodwill or an earnest desire to resolve the
contentious issues bedeviling their relationship for almost seven decades. At
people’s level, the deep-seated animus can be witnessed when a match is being
played or a situation of tension like the attack on a Bombay hotel arises.

The
Hindu extremists have been demonstrating the anti-Muslim vendetta by lynching
and burning the Muslims and their houses in ethnic and communal clashes. One such
horrible mayhem happened in Gujarat and Ahmadabad when Muslims suffered a kind
of carnage and mini genocide at the hands of Hindu extremists. These anti
Muslims riots continued for three months causing unspecified number of deaths
and casualties and loss of property.

The hate and
the animosity have a history of a thousand years between the Muslims and
Hindus. Hindus think that Muslims were primarily aliens and intruders into the
sacred Hindustava or Bharat Mata and they have no right to live and survive in
the Indian subcontinent.

Muslims, though, have been rulers in India until the
British came, seldom indulged in the persecution or ethnic cleansing or proselytizing
their religious minorities. The Muslim rulers like Akbar married with Hindu
women and invariably treated Hindu population well and on equal level.

While
Pakistan is caught in the throes of a civil war at home front and also has been
fighting a proxy war for the west, it cannot afford to ignite a crisis
situation that can lead to a war and military confrontation with India. Given
the Indian expanding role and interest in Afghanistan, Pakistan is genuinely
worried that it night get a push both from the eastern and western fronts once
the foreign occupation troops leave Afghanistan.

Only the time would unravel if the future Afghan government would allow India
to carry on its anti Pakistan activities and be able to incite pro-Indian
Afghan and tribal militants against Pakistan for an insurgency. There are
rumors that India was backing the insurgency now going on in Balochistan for
separation. However, hopefully Pakistan would be able to stem the extremists’
militancy in Balochistan as it did in Swat, Dir, and Malakand and of late in
South Waziristan.

. India is
more interested in dislodging China in Balochistan. India is deeply incensed
over the Chinese running the Gawadar port. Moreover it would not want an
increasing influence of China by way of a motorway linking Karachi with Kashgar
or establishment of industrial zones on Pakistani territory.

However Chinese
presence in Pakistan in a way would also be a redeeming feature for Pakistan.
India may not venture creating further troubles for Pakistan or military action
for fear of Chinese reprisals in safeguarding here own commercial interests.

Therefore, in the backdrop of this endemic and seething hostility, any goodwill
visits to other country by politicians would hardly make any difference in
generating genuine and sincere cordiality between India and Pakistan.

The former
Indian External Affairs Minister, S. M. Krishna came to Pakistan on a three-day
visit in July 2010 with a “message of peace and friendship from the people of
India”. Yet that proved to be another futile attempt in mending fences even
marginally between two inveterate adversaries.

Since then
four years have passed and there doesn't seem to be any demonstration of
goodwill. As the past betokens the
possibility of a far reaching or watershed breakthrough at present or in future
looks remote. Such visits have been window-dressing and cosmetic without
throwing up tangible outcome for fostering a real era of friendship and peace
between India and Pakistan.

However one
would wish that China, India, Pakistan and Afghanistan and even Iran can join
hands through a regional treaty to work for the uplift, peace and economic
cooperation of this part of South Asia. Wars and military engagements are not
lasting answer to the stability and advancement of this thus far neglected
region especially war-torn Afghanistan.

One can hope that better sense
prevails. The first giant step towards lasting peace, enduring goodwill and abiding
mutual understanding between Pakistan and India is the dire need to resolve
their lingering disputes. One such paramount bone of contention is the Kashmir
issue.

Wednesday, February 5, 2014

There seems
to be a slim chance for the negotiating team put up by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif,
to strike a deal with the shrew and battle hardened Taliban and to convince
them to lay down arms and join the society as peaceful and law abiding
citizens. The sticking point is obviously their focus on a bloody struggle for enforcement
of rigid and radical Islamic shariah in Pakistan.

If their brand
of Sharia is even partially enforced and interpolated in the constitution, then
Pakistan would recede to the times of Assassins in the Middle East and Vandals in
Europe. Any reconciliation between an elected constitutional government and
renegade Taliban is inherently contradictory, i.e., savage inhuman system vs a
representative rule.

The assassins
were eliminated by the Mongols to rid the Islamic regimes from that curse. Same
unforgiving blitz is needed to wipe off this scourge from the soil of Pakistan.
Bu perhaps there seems to be a kind of catch and trickery behind this overture of
the incumbent regime not to be blamed later that it did not offer an olive
branch to the brute Taliban. The refusal from Taliban for a deal could morally
justify the military action against the TTP network of hordes.

According to
a news report TTP’s monthly earnings from extortion, kidnapping, drug trade and
bounty killings in Karachi alone have exceeded 115 million dollars. Therefore,
they would go down fighting but would not submit.

As a ferocious, religious
conglomeration, their affiliates and members prefer dying for a swift placement
in paradise. Such is the level of powerful indoctrination by the zealots of
that outfit created by Pakistan herself in yester-years.

Taliban would
not relinquish their militancy no matter Pakistan goes extra mile, to accommodate
their conditions. Such a hope is prematurely doomed for the obvious reasons laid
out in the foregoing narrative. The taming of hardcore religious bigots and
tenacious fighters is a far cry and cannot be attained by solicitation or sweet
overtures.

The underlying purpose of Taliban and their supporters from the
mainstream politico- religious parties is to revive the pristine Islamic
caliphate and towards the attainment of this objective they would never
compromise or budge.

Even if by a
miracle they join hands with the government, they would not abandon their
option of falling out with the civilian or democratic government. They would
not abandon their fanatic creed anyway. The induction of Taliban factions into the
democratic political culture of Pakistan would remain like strange and
incompatible bedfellow and would backfire.

The ongoing,
unrelenting mayhem of terrorism is primarily being spawned and tenaciously
carried out by Taliban and sectarian rivals. It would be spine-chilling to
imagine what would happen to Pakistan if such rigid, extremist and ruthless
militants as Taliban, in tandem with the homegrown religio-political groups,
become shareholders in power.

In that horrid situation would Pakistan be any
different from Syria and Iraq or certain African countries where religious
insurgents are braced against the states and also fighting one another on the
sectarian basis?

The Al-Qaida
and Al-shabab and various shades of Taliban are a newborn face of the erstwhile
religious fundamentalist forces. The present day religious outfits with
stubborn agenda and unflinching will to fight the heathens are a spillover from
the past.

It is mind boggling to watch that in these times of enlightenment,
liberalism, free societies, the human rights, the planet Earth is still
infested with such rogue bands that want the obscure dogmatic orders to be
revived and implemented in entirety.

So the only
effective and absolute mechanism for dealing with the radical militants is to
exterminate them physically and destroy and debilitate their militancy with
full might of the state. If in Pakistan the skirmishes with the Taliban and
Al-Qaida continue unabated, there would never be an end or any tangible result
coming out of these.

The compelling reason is that those who are killed among
the insurgents are filled by new cadres and volunteers indoctrinated and
motivated by religious zealots and fiery demagogues with a dainty and alluring
promise of straight away going to paradise as martyrs.

In the
hindsight let us recollect that Pakistan along with other Islamic regimes
created a force of universal Islamic crusaders to fight ungodly Russians in
rugged Afghanistan as allies of a free and religious Christian world led by the
United States.

What a hoax it was that while the Islamic countries were
arraigned against the Russian with a resounding spirit of Islamic resurgence,
the underlying catch was to bring victory of capitalism over communism.

While the
second purpose has been ideally served, the first one (creation of militants) has
became a lasting millstone around the neck of Pakistan. It is like a
Frankenstein ever ready to swallow its own creator which in this case is
Pakistan. Pakistan allowed its land and manpower for the fulfillment of a goal
that was extraneous to its national interests. Hence we see the proliferation
of terrorism all over Pakistan by Taliban and hardcore religious fanatics.

The pitiless
Taliban and their cohorts had virtually occupied Swat valley in 2007. They were
driven out with full-fledged military operations in 2007 and 2009. One could
gauge the resilience and the devious way the Taliban broadened their tentacles
based on primitive orthodoxy in that marvelous enchanting valley.

From Swat
valley they were planning to march towards the federal capital of Pakistan
Islamabad and terrorize the local population through coercive regimentation.
They and their agents forced the people to abide by religious injunctions such
as for the ladies to cover their head in the market places.

The Taliban
and their ilk would resist, thwart and block, by every conceivable means, all
such endeavors that overhaul Pakistan into a modern frame. The fundamental
question is whether Pakistan survives as a modern state or succumbs to the
dictates of Taliban and fanatic orthodox religious entities.

The choice is
certainly a modern state with a secular and pluralistic edifice erected on the
foundation of an enlightened Islam. It would not be advisable or thinkable to
live with a monster like Taliban and then expect to remain unscathed.

The dream of
crafting a modern egalitarian, Liberal, pluralistic and democratic society in
Pakistan is entirely out of sync with the crude model of statehood envisioned
by the obscurantist and the conservative Islamic forces. Islam fundamentally is
a progressive religion and can tailor itself with the changing times.

The creed
and ideologies of fundamentalists and reactionary religious assortments are
retrogressive and negate the fruits of modern times such as advancement in
technology, universal culture of humanism, pluralism, inclusiveness, emancipation
of women folks and a fusion of religion with modernity and so on.

The sectarian
and ideological conflicts now rife in the Islamic countries are the formidable
hurdles in their progress and getting into the strides of modern nation states.
With the advent of a fossilized version of Islam imposed on Pakistan, the
country can transform into a medieval state but not the one that is
indispensable in the present times of enlightenment and awakening.

The
conservative Islamic societies are in a state of flux and groping how to
explore an identity that simultaneously serves both their religious obligations
and the imperative of the present times.

Monday, February 3, 2014

My considered opinion is that PSNT (Pakistan Society of
North Texas), a patently white elephant representative body of the Pakistanis
residing in DFW should be disbanded. I have no grudge against the stalwarts or
officer holders of this merely showoff organization of expatriate Pakistanis in
the metropolitan region of Dallas and Forthwith.

They are good looking glamorous
individuals dressed in fine and custom made sartorial elegance and enjoying lot
of clout and goodwill among the Pakistani and even in Indians community. I am
purely talking about the efficacy and usefulness of this good- for- nothing
outfit that somehow looks like pain in the neck or a kind of redundant body that
if dissolved would not bring any harm to the Pakistanis as it is not dispensing
any good either.

The best or the distinctive role that the PSNT has been
focused on is to hold two functions once a year. One is Pakistan’s Independence
Day on 14 August. The other is Pakistan Day on March 23 in commemoration of the
passing of the Pakistan Resolution in 1940 at Lahore.

These are very laudable
programs but what else? A representative society as the PSNT is ought to
address the social, economic, legal, and medical and a host of other problems of
its ethnic groups or the people hailing from the same country of origin.

Let me mention an incident
exposing deliberate apathy on the part of the incumbent PSNT bosses towards a
distressing humanitarian cause. Last year a poor lonely
Pakistani Junaid Khan died of a heart attack. While the dead body
of Junaid was kept in Rahma funeral home, a fellow
Pakistani Ali Rizvi appealed to the Pakistani community to donate for
sending his dead body to Pakistan. Only three good hearted philanthropists
offered to bear the expenses for that cause. The funds apart, the bigwigs of
the PSNT did not even bother to issue a statement of condolence.

In contrast, the same year in
the month of March, PSNT celebrated the Pakistan Day in a posh hotel with lot
of fanfare and gusto. That evening must have cost the PSNT a good
amount of money and this money must have been collected from the members or
shared by the PSNT executive body.

The point to ponder is that while
a grand gala function fits into the priorities of the PSNT, a humanitarian
appeal, first of its kind, was ignored under the pretext of regulations. It is
a public knowledge that the PSNT has a sizeable amount
deposited in its account.

Now the mandate of such a prestigious entity ought to bring
the people together, cultivate their former countrymen or those with dual
nationality on a variety of issues ranging from integration to education. It
should hold cultural meets, variety shows depicting Pakistan dresses and other
cultural manifestations.

It can also
encourage or patronize cultural fairs, poetic sessions and celebrate American
special days.

It should foster goodwill among the low and high, advantaged and
disadvantaged, educated and uneducated. It can generate sense of togetherness
and loyalty to both our new and old country of origin. It has to visit the
afflicted people in their homes and meet the families involved in domestic
disputes, help those with health problems and create pro bono cadres of
Pakistan or South Indian attorneys for legal assistance. The office bearers
should call upon the people hospitalized due to serious sickness.

When Mr. Irfan Toor
was the president of PSNT, he initiated a useful program of informing the
Pakistani community through a special supplement or magazine that would detail ongoing
programs of PSNT. This bulletin would be published prior to special days of
Pakistan like Pakistan Day and the Independence Day.

Even otherwise there would
be lot of activities and Mr Toor would take personal interest in promoting
goodwill and keeping in touch with the Pakistani community. Those days are gone
and these are now merely glamour, feast and music that are observed and that
too at a huge cost and in the company of select gathering that can pay for
costly tickets.

We have observed that special interest groups within the
Pakistan community try to take over the PSNT reins for perhaps business or
personal interests and to be effective to talk to the local authorities for
benefits and perks and advantages. In the past there used to be one dominant
group that was like a king maker and any executive body or president could not
be appointed without its approval.

During Mr Toor’s tenure perhaps for the first
time fair elections were held. Thereafter and before him, it was only change of
hands and mere transfer of PSNT from one powerful and elite group to another.

We have also observed that shady tactics and devious bottlenecks
are deliberately created in the way of holding genuine elections. The lists of
the voters are tempered with on one excuse or another. There must be thousands
of Pakistani origin Americans in DFW but only a minuscule are members of this
otherwise prestigious body.

Why the Pakistanis are not motivated to take
membership and thus making this organization more powerful to safeguard the
interests of the American Pakistanis? Such a meaningful and far reaching effort
has never been made and a kind of stale and outdated list is being maintained
for the elections. We all know how the last elections of PSNT were manipulated
and through trickery a special group was inducted into PSNT.

So when the PSNT is not delivering what it ought to deliver then
better it is disbanded. More productive are the services of individual
philanthropists and social activist like Dr Basheer Ahmed, Mike Ghouse, Farooq
Khan, Azad Khan, John Hamid, Irfan Ali, Ghulam Jhangra, Khaliq Qureshi Sahib,
and many others whose record of service to the Pakistani community is much
brighter and profoundly selfless than the PSNT.

The Pakistan community doesn’t
need a showy organization to represent them. They need sincere and dedicated
spokespersons and custodians who work hard and sincerely for the community.

Let me first of all warmly compliment Mike Ghouse and his companions
for holding the Seventh Exhibition cum Symposium on a crucial phenomenon that
we all know as holocaust. This august event took place on January 26 in the
spacious hall of the Unity Church of Dallas.

Holocaust is a dreadful
and ghastly dimension of human civilization that has been happening since the
dawn of civilization and perhaps even earlier than that. Let me quote one
important episode from the known history preserved in Bible and also in the
holy Quran.

When Prophet Moses liberated the
Jewish nation from centuries old stranglehold of the Pharaohs who were the
mighty emperors of their own time, they marched into the Sinai desert and
settled there for 40 years. Thereafter they perpetrated the first distinctly
documented genocide of the peaceful population in the land of Canaan. They
killed the inhabitants including the infants indiscriminately and with savagery
that is beyond description.

The Jewish nation itself suffered
terrible genocides at least four times in history: one at the hands of Babylon
Empire, second under the Roman Empire, third in Spain and fourth in Nazi
Germany. The Muslims too faced the similar appalling genocides. Apart from
other cities of Muslim rule, the Mongols, laid waste the capital of the Islamic
caliphate Baghdad in 1258 and killed 1.6 million Muslims. This mass
annihilation of Baghdad is recorded as the most heinous genocide carried out
during the Middle Ages.

Besides the Muslims suffered terrible
genocides in Jerusalem, Alexandria and Spain at the hands of the victor
Christian crusaders. In Spain where they ruled for seven centuries, they were
entirely massacred and expelled along with the Jews. Those left somehow were
finally deported in 1609.

In history the Muslims, the Christians and Jews have
been alternating in killing each other adopting a parched earth drive and
ethnic cleansing policies. England passed through a spell of genocides at the
hands of Romans and Vikings in early times.The Holocaust and genocide can be treated
as synonyms carrying the diabolic connotation that implies the wholesale
massacres and extermination of a race of segment of human beings. During the
last two centuries several grisly genocides have taken place.

The British colonial armies in their
frantic onslaught to expand the abominable colonialism marched on the vast
continent of America. Those who arrived first were called pilgrimages. Their
beastly annihilation of the local population have no parallel in history.
They kept on wiping off the local population called native Indians with
such a diabolic obsession that continued till it culminated into a civil war
between the federalists and the co federalist.

The native inhabitants called red or
native Indians and now American Indians were easy prey to their superior
weaponry and fighting tactics. The natives fought back with primitive arrows,
batons and swords against the merciless pogroms of the invaders who were more
like bounty hunters. The natives’ mainstay of living, cattle and buffaloes were
totally wiped off.

They were infested with deadly
epidemics of diseases like small pox to die if left alive from the pointblank
shooting of the well armed and disciplined killers. Even children sucking their
mothers’ breasts were not spared. The slogan of the British generals was that
“only good Indian is dead Indian”. Approximately 100 million native Indians
perished in this the most macabre genocides in the human history after Mongols’
curse.

The exhibition of the Indian genocide
displayed extremely heart wrenching and harrowing scenes making the onlookers
wonder how human beings could be as callous and barbaric as to slaughter a
helpless, primitive and defense segment of human race.

The exhibits and graphics showed huge
piles of dead bodies with killer soldiers standing aside with devilish smiles
on their faces after performing this hideous job. The copies of the scrolls,
orders and parchments issued by the British commanders were also displayed. In
those documents reflects the hate and obsession to kill the local population
without any compunction. The exhibition continued from 3p.m.to 7 p.m. when the
whole program came to close.

I was thrilled and rather entranced by
the presentations and speeches’ during the two hours session conducted in the
main hall of the church. The speakers’ spoke about the Native Americans
holocaust, the 2002 Gujarat massacre and the 1984 massacre of Sikhs in India.
The Jewish holocaust at the hands of the Nazis in Germany was portrayed in
video clips, prepared by Christiana Amanpour, the celebrated CNN anchor. Mike
Ghouse, the principal organizer of this phenomenal yearly event told his side
of the story about the genocide.

The keynote speaker and host of this
memorable evening Mary Ann Thompson-Frank expressed her empirical impressions
about the Rwandan genocide in which 800,000 humans were killed. Mary is
immensely knowledgeable, highly articulate with flair of oration.
She was eloquent, vocal and gave an excellent account and grasp of the subject
and kept the audience riveted to her discourse.

I was personally greatly impressed by fluency
and candor in dishing out her thoughts and observations. This highly fruitful
and greatly enlightening session included a peace pledge by Mike Ghouse
followed by a poignantly sad and moving Native American Mourning Song.

This distinctive and remarkable
seminar would add another feather in the cap of Mike Ghouse and his associates
in highlighting and rekindling an issue for the civilized nations to reflect
and ponder how to foster love and harmony among the people of this planet
mother earth. It should serve as a grim reminder and resounding lesson for the
human race that never again any genocide or holocaust be allowed to happen.

Such seminars and symposiums emit the
divine and cardinal message that the age of barbarians and beast is over and we
should all live in harmony and peace and work in unison for the collective good
of the entire human race. Those who voluminously collaborated and sponsored in
this effort among others were ‘Muslims Together’, ‘American Indian Genocide
Museum’, Mnemosyne institute and Foundation for Pluralism. A sumptuous dinner
was served at the end to all, the speakers and the spectators alike.

About Me

Columnist/Analyst/ Former Diplomat.
After obtaining my master’s degrees in Urdu and English literature from Punjab University, I started my career by teaching in a college. Thereafter, I had a stint in the diplomatic service of Pakistan. Finally I landed in journalism, an occupation that I am wedded to for over 20 years now.
I am a strong believer in a civil society and staunch opponent of exploitation in all forms.